I spin on a book charka. Who are you buying it from? Eileen, of New World fibers tunes her charkas. I'm not sure what that means but I bought mine from her, and I like it just fine. It's really easy to spin cotton on a charka. Buy lots of extra spindles because they fill up quickly. I have 5 and would probably like 5 more. After I fill them up I wind the cotton directly onto bobbins for weaving. I think the most frustrating part of charka spinning when I first started was remembering how to set the thing up and learning exactly how I wanted everything set. So I would suggest you be patient with yourself and experiment. I took a class in cotton spinning from Joan Ruane, she has a dvd too. She didn't teach charka spinning but takhli and wheel spinning cotton, but I found that the class helped every aspect of my cotton spinning. Now I wish I was spinning instead of going to a dance gig!